An Overview of the Economy
Thailand has the second largest economy in Southeast Asia after
Indonesia. The Asian financial crisis affected Thailand and
economic figures started to fall, although with a stable
agricultural sector and plans to develop industrialisation, the
economy soon began to rebuild itself. The Thai economy is very
dependant on exports especially agricultural goods, Thailand is the
largest producer of rice in the world and 60% of the country's
workforce is employed in the agricultural sector. The Thai economy
has seen a positive growth rate of around 8.5% since 1999.
| statistics |
|
| GDP (PPP) (IMF) (US$Billions) |
519.4 |
| GDP (PPP) (CIA) (US$Billions) |
519.4 |
| GDP Growth (IMF) (%) |
4.7% |
| GDP Growth (CIA) (%) |
4.8% |
| GDP Per Capita (PPP) (IMF) (US$) |
7,900 |
| GDP Per Capita (PPP) (CIA) (US$) |
7,900 |
| GDP by Sector (%) |
Agriculture: 11.4%
Services: 44.7%
Industry: 43.9% |
| Inflation (%) |
2.2% |
| Population Below the Poverty Line (%) |
10% |
| Labour Force (Millions) |
36.9 |
| Labour Force by Occupation (%) |
Agriculture: 49%
Services: 37%
Industry: 14% |
| Unemployment (%) |
1.4% |
| Main Industries |
Tourism, textiles and garments, agricultural processing,
beverages, tobacco, cement, light manufacturing such
as jewellery and electrical appliances, computers and
parts, integrated circuits, furniture, plastics, automobiles
and automotive parts, tungsten, tin. |
Source: IMF, CIA World Factbook
GDP
| economic indicators |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
| GDP (US$Billions) |
142.6 |
161.3 |
176.4 |
206.7 |
245.7 |
| GDP Growth (%) |
7.1% |
6.3% |
4.5% |
5.1% |
4.7% |
| GDP Per Capita (US$) |
2,228 |
2,479 |
2,709 |
3,166 |
3,736 |
| GDP Per Capita (PPP) (US$) |
5,920 |
6,350 |
6,840 |
7,397 |
7,900 |
| Inflation (%) |
1.8% |
2.8% |
4.5% |
4.6% |
2.2% |
| Unemployment (%) |
2.9% |
2.2% |
1.5% |
1.8% |
1.4% |
| Mobile Phone Users |
3,100,000 |
16,117,000 |
26,500,000 |
27,379,000 |
40,816,000 |
| Internet Users |
1,200,000 |
6,031,000 |
6,971,500 |
8,420,000 |
8,466,000 |
Source: IMF, CIA World Factbook
Major Exports & Imports
Thailand has undergone several set backs within its economy, but
with strong agricultural exports the Thai economy has begun
rebuilding itself. Thailand exports over $105 billion worth of
products annually; this includes rice, textile, footwear,
electrical appliances, computers and automobiles. Thailand's main
trading partners are China, Japan and the US.
Major Exports 2007
Textiles and footwear, fishery products, rice, rubber,
jewellery, automobiles, computers, electrical appliances.
Major Imports 2007
Capital goods, intermediate goods and raw materials, consumer
goods, fuels.
| export partners 2007 |
% of total |
| US |
15% |
| Japan |
12.6% |
| China |
9% |
| Singapore |
6.4% |
| Hong kong |
5.5% |
| Malaysia |
5.1% |
| import partners 2007 |
% of total |
| Japan |
19.9% |
| China |
10.6% |
| US |
7.5% |
| Malaysia |
6.6% |
| UAE |
5.5% |
| Singapore |
4.4% |
Source: CIA World Factbook
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